2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference season

2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference season
LeagueNCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision
SportFootball
DurationAugust 29, 2024
through January 6, 2025
Number of teams11
TV partner(s)ESPN College Football, ESPN+, Local TV partners
2025 NFL draft
Regular season
Champions



Playoff participants		North Dakota State
South Dakota State
South Dakota

Illinois State
Football seasons
← 2023
2025 →
2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 2 South Dakota State +^   7 – 1     11 – 2  
No. 3 North Dakota State +^   7 – 1     10 – 2  
No. 4 South Dakota +^   7 – 1     9 – 2  
Missouri State*   6 – 2     8 – 4  
No. 11 Illinois State ^   6 – 2     10 – 3  
Youngstown State   3 – 5     4 – 8  
Indiana State   3 – 5     4 – 8  
North Dakota   2 – 6     5 – 7  
Southern Illinois   2 – 6     4 – 8  
Northern Iowa   1 – 7     3 – 9  
Murray State   0 – 8     1 – 11  
* Ineligible for 2024 FCS playoffs due to transition to the FBS
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
As of December 7, 2024
Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference season is the 39th season of college football play for the Missouri Valley Football Conference and part of the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season. This is the MVFC's first season returning to 11 teams, and its fourth in the last 5 seasons. It is also the conference's last for now as Missouri State announced before the season that they would be joining Conference USA starting in the 2025–26 academic year. The Bears are ineligible for the FCS playoffs during the 2024 season.[1]

Previous season

In 2023, South Dakota State won the conference and received the automatic bid to the 2023 playoffs. The top seeded Jacks would go on to win their second consecutive FCS Championship, beating second seeded Montana.[2] South Dakota would also make a seed and wait until the second round to play as the third seed, but would fall to North Dakota State in the quarterfinal round.[3] The Bison made the tournament unseeded for the first time since the 2010 season, and would make it all the way to the semifinal round before losing to the Griz[4] - winning two straight road games to get there. Southern Illinois, Youngstown State and North Dakota would also make the playoffs as unseeded teams. The Salukis and Penguins fell in the second round, to 4th seeded Idaho[5] and 6th seeded Villanova[6] respectively. The Fighting Hawks fell at home to Sacramento State in the first round.[7]

Conference changes

After the conclusion of the 2023 college football season, Western Illinois left the conference for the Ohio Valley Conference after 38 years in the league as a charter member. This move matches the Leathernecks departure from their main conference, the Summit League, which they left after the 2022-23 collegiate season.[8]

Coaching changes

Murray State

On January 10, 2024, Jody Wright was named the new head coach at Murray State.[9] Wright takes over for Dean Hood, who retired after the 2023 season.[10]

North Dakota State

On December 17, 2023, Tim Polasek was named the new head coach at North Dakota State.[11] Polasek takes over for Matt Entz, who left the Bison for the linebackers/assistant coach position at USC.[12]

Preseason

League Poll

The annual preseason poll; voted on by conference coaches, athletic directors, and media members.[13]

Predicted finish Team Points (1st place votes)
1 South Dakota State 482 (42)
2 North Dakota State 437 (1)
3 South Dakota 371
4 Southern Illinois 293
5 North Dakota 276
6 Illinois State 264
7 Youngstown State 255
8 Northern Iowa 227
9 Missouri State 164 (1)
10 Indiana State 68
11 Murray State 67

Individual Awards

Source:[14]

Rankings

Main article: 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings
Legend
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
  No change in ranking from previous week
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol
  Pre Wk
1		 Wk
2		 Wk
3		 Wk
4		 Wk
5		 Wk
6		 Wk
7		 Wk
8		 Wk
9		 Wk
10		 Wk
11		 Wk
12		 Wk
13		 Final
Illinois State STATS 19 21 18 17 18 18 16 21 21 21 18 17 14 11
Coaches 20 22 19 15 15 19 16 23 20 19 17 16 13 10
Indiana State STATS
Coaches RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
Missouri State STATS
Coaches RV RV RV RV RV 25 20 18 17 15 14 18 21
Murray State STATS
Coaches RV RV RV RV RV
North Dakota STATS 24 23 10 10 9 7 9 9 7 15 21 RV
Coaches 22 20 10 9 8 6 10 10 7 15 23 RV RV
North Dakota State STATS 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 3
Coaches 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 4
Northern Iowa STATS RV RV RV 25 RV RV
Coaches RV RV 21 19 19 18 RV
South Dakota STATS 5 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 4 4
Coaches 5 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 4 3
South Dakota State STATS 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 2
Coaches 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 2
Southern Illinois STATS 10 10 9 7 17 19 RV
Coaches 11 12 8 7 17 23 RV
Youngstown State STATS 25 25 21 RV
Coaches 23 23 20 25 RV

Schedule

Index to colors and formatting
MVFC member won
MVFC member lost
MVFC teams in bold

All times Central time.

† denotes Homecoming game
^ denotes AP Poll ranking for FBS teams

Regular season schedule

Week 1

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
August 29 6:00 PM No. 25 Youngstown State No. 6 Villanova Villanova Stadium • Villanova, PA FloSports L 17–24   5,421 [15]
August 29 7:00 PM No. 2 North Dakota State Colorado Folsom Field • Boulder, CO ESPN L 26–31   49,438 [16]
August 29 7:00 PM Northern State No. 5 South Dakota DakotaDome • Vermillion, SD ESPN+ W 45–3   7,435 [17]
August 29 7:00 PM Murray State No. 11^ Missouri Faurot Field • Columbia, MO SEC Network/ESPN+ L 0–51   62,621 [18]
August 31 11:00 AM No. 19 Illinois State No. 25^ Iowa Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA BTN L 0–40   69,250 [19]
August 31 11:00 AM Indiana State Purdue Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN BTN L 0–49   59,488 [20]
August 31 1:00 PM No. 1 South Dakota State No. 17^ Oklahoma State Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, OK ESPN+ L 20–44   52,202 [21]
August 31 2:30 PM No. 24 North Dakota Iowa State Jack Trice Stadium • Ames, IA FS1 L 3–21   56,148 [22]
August 31 4:00 PM Valparaiso No. RV Northern Iowa UNI-Dome • Cedar Falls, IA ESPN+ W 35–7   8,458 [23]
August 31 7:00 PM No. 10 Southern Illinois BYU LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT ESPN+ L 13–41   63,712 [24]
August 31 8:00 PM Missouri State No. 3 Montana Washington-Grizzly Stadium • Missoula, MT ESPN+ L 24–29   26,482 [25]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.

Week 2

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
September 7 1:00 PM No. RV Northern Iowa St. Thomas O'Shaughnessy Stadium • St. Paul, MN W 17–10   N/A [26]
September 7 1:00 PM Valparaiso No. 25 Youngstown State Stambaugh Stadium • Youngstown, OH ESPN+ W 59–25   7,649 [27]
September 7 2:00 PM Missouri State Ball State Scheumann Stadium • Muncie, IN ESPN+ L 34–42   10,018 [28]
September 7 2:30 PM Tennessee State No. 2 North Dakota State Fargodome • Fargo, ND ESPN+ W 52–3   16,811 [29]
September 7 2:30 PM No. 6 South Dakota Wisconsin Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI FS1 L 13–27   76,069 [30]
September 7 6:00 PM No. 21 Illinois State North Alabama Braly Municipal Stadium • Florence, AL W 24–17   8,014 [31]
September 7 6:00 PM Indiana State Eastern Illinois O'Brien Field • Charleston, IL ESPN+ L 20–27   7,222 [32]
September 7 6:00 PM No. 10 Southern Illinois Austin Peay Fortera Stadium • Clarksville, TN ESPN+ W 31–17   8,124 [33]
September 7 6:00 PM No. 4 Montana No. 23 North Dakota Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND ESPN+ W 27–24   11,595 [34]
September 7 6:00 PM Butler Murray State Roy Stewart Stadium • Murray, KY ESPN+ L 17–19   7,213 [35]
September 7 6:00 PM No. 12 Incarnate Word No. 1 South Dakota State Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, SD ESPN+ W 45–24   19,321 [36]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.

Week 3

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
September 14 12:00 PM Western Illinois No. 18 Illinois State Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL ESPN+ W 51–34   N/A [37]
September 14 1:00 PM Duquesne No. 21 Youngstown State Stambaugh Stadium • Youngstown, OH ESPN+ L 25–28   12,415 [38]
September 14 1:00 PM Idaho State No. 10 North Dakota Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND ESPN+ W 52–28   10,685 [39]
September 14 3:00 PM No. 6 South Dakota Portland State Hillsboro Stadium • Portland, OR ESPN+  Cancelled   [40]
September 14 4:30 PM No. 2 North Dakota State East Tennessee State William B. Greene Jr. Stadium • Johnson City, TN ESPN+ W 38–35   11,040 [41]
September 14 5:00 PM Dayton Indiana State Memorial Stadium • Terre Haute, IN ESPN+ W 24–13   3,614 [42]
September 14 6:00 PM Mississippi Valley State Murray State Roy Stewart Stadium • Murray, KY ESPN+ W 59–8   9,088 [43]
September 14 6:00 PM Lindenwood Missouri State Robert W. Plaster Stadium • Springfield, MO ESPN+ W 28–14   9,642 [44]
September 14 6:00 PM No. 12 Incarnate Word No. 9 Southern Illinois Saluki Stadium • Carbondale, IL ESPN+ W 35–28   7,879 [45]
September 14 6:00 PM Augustana (SD) No. 1 South Dakota State Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, SD ESPN+ W 24–3   19,376 [46]
September 14 6:30 PM No. RV Northern Iowa No. 23^ Nebraska Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE BTN L 3–34   86,546 [47]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.

Week 4

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
September 21 1:00 PM San Diego No. 10 North Dakota Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND ESPN+ W 41–24   8,491 [48]
September 21 1:00 PM No. RV Towson No. 2 North Dakota State† Fargodome • Fargo, ND ESPN+ W 41–24   17,185 [49]
September 21 1:00 PM Drake No. 6 South Dakota DakotaDome • Vermillion, SD ESPN+ W 42–3   6,529 [50]
September 21 2:30 PM No. RV Youngstown State No. RV^ Pitt Acrisure Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA ACC Network L 17–73   48,437 [51]
September 21 6:00 PM No. RV Eastern Illinois No. 17 Illinois State Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL ESPN+ W 31–7   9,012 [52]
September 21 6:00 PM No. 21 Southeast Missouri State No. 7 Southern Illinois Saluki Stadium • Carbondale, IL ESPN+ L 21–38   13,421 [53]
September 21 6:00 PM No. 1 South Dakota State Southeastern Louisiana Strawberry Stadium • Hammond, LA W 41–0   4,387 [54]
September 21 6:00 PM Missouri State UT Martin Graham Stadium • Martin, TN ESPN+ W 31–24   3,985 [55]
September 21 11:00 PM No. 25 Northern Iowa Hawaii Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex • Honolulu, HI L 7–36   11,402 [56]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.
Date Bye week
September 21 Indiana State Murray State

Week 5

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
September 28 12:00 PM Houston Christian Indiana State Memorial Stadium • Terre Haute, IN ESPN+ L 24–27   3,466 [57]
September 28 1:00 PM Murray State No. 9 North Dakota Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND ESPN+  UND 72–35   10,828 [58]
September 28 1:00 PM No. 17 Southern Illinois No. 5 South Dakota DakotaDome • Vermillion, SD ESPN+  USD 42–13   6,706 [59]
September 28 2:00 PM Youngstown State Missouri State Robert W. Plaster Stadium • Springfield, MO ESPN+  MOST 38–31   12,117 [60]
September 28 2:00 PM No. 2 North Dakota State No. 18 Illinois State† Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL ESPN+  NDSU 42–10   11,687 [61]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.
Date Bye week
September 28 No. 1 South Dakota State No. RV Northern Iowa

Week 6

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
October 5 1:00 PM Indiana State Youngstown State Stambaugh Stadium • Youngstown, OH ESPN+  YSU 21–14   8,202 [62]
October 5 2:00 PM No. 4 South Dakota Murray State Roy Stewart Stadium • Murray, KY ESPN+  USD 59–0   6,437 [63]
October 5 2:30 PM No. 7 North Dakota No. 2 North Dakota State Fargodome • Fargo, ND ESPN+  NDSU 41–17   18,723 [64]
October 5 4:00 PM No. 1 South Dakota State No. RV Northern Iowa UNI-Dome • Cedar Falls, IA ESPN+  SDSU 41–3   12,611 [65]
October 5 6:00 PM No. 18 Illinois State No. 19 Southern Illinois Saluki Stadium • Carbondale, IL ESPN+  ILST 45–10   7,157 [66]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.
Date Bye week
October 5 Missouri State

Week 7

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
October 12 12:00 PM Missouri State No. 16 Illinois State Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL ESPN+  MOST 41–7   6,232 [67]
October 12 12:00 PM Murray State Indiana State Memorial Stadium • Terre Haute, IN ESPN+  INST 31–27   3,056 [68]
October 12 2:00 PM No. 2 North Dakota State No. RV Southern Illinois† Saluki Stadium • Carbondale, IL ESPN+  NDSU 24–3   9,610 [69]
October 12 2:00 PM Northern Iowa No. 4 South Dakota DakotaDome • Vermillion, SD ESPN+  USD 42–17   8,934 [70]
October 12 2:00 PM Youngstown State No. 1 South Dakota State Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, SD ESPN+  SDSU 63–13   19,331 [71]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.
Date Bye week
October 12 No. 9 North Dakota

Week 8

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
October 19 1:00 PM Northern Iowa No. 9 North Dakota Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND ESPN+  UND 31–7   11,617 [72]
October 19 2:00 PM No. 21 Illinois State Murray State Roy Stewart Stadium • Murray, KY ESPN+  ILST 40–32   15,991 [73]
October 19 2:00 PM Indiana State Missouri State† Robert W. Plaster Stadium • Springfield, MO ESPN+  MOST 46–21   11,280 [74]
October 19 5:00 PM No. 4 South Dakota Youngstown State Stambaugh Stadium • Youngstown, OH ESPN+  USD 27–17   8,560 [75]
October 19 7:00 PM No. 1 South Dakota State No. 2 North Dakota State Fargodome • Fargo, ND ESPN2  NDSU 13–9   18,807 [76]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.
Date Bye week
October 19 Southern Illinois

Week 9

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
October 26 12:00 PM Southern Illinois Indiana State† Memorial Stadium • Terre Haute, IN ESPN+  INST 20–17   4,266 [77]
October 26 1:00 PM No. 1 North Dakota State Murray State Roy Stewart Stadium • Murray, KY ESPN+  NDSU 59–6   6,133 [78]
October 26 4:00 PM Missouri State Northern Iowa† UNI-Dome • Cedar Falls, IA ESPN+  MOST 49–42   10,848 [79]
October 26 5:00 PM No. 7 North Dakota Youngstown State Stambaugh Stadium • Youngstown, OH ESPN+  YSU 41–40 OT   9,979 [80]
October 26 6:30 PM No. 4 South Dakota No. 3 South Dakota State Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, SD ESPNU  SDSU 20–17 OT   19,351 [81]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.
Date Bye week
October 26 No. 21 Illinois State

Week 10

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
November 2 12:00 PM No. 15 North Dakota Indiana State Memorial Stadium • Terre Haute, IN ESPN+  INST 35–31   3,013 [82]
November 2 2:00 PM Youngstown State No. 21 Illinois State Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL ESPN+  ILST 23–16   6,381 [83]
November 2 2:00 PM Murray State No. 3 South Dakota State Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, SD ESPN+  SDSU 52–6   16,376 [84]
November 2 2:00 PM Southern Illinois Missouri State Robert W. Plaster Stadium • Springfield, MO ESPN+  MOST 38–17   8,134 [85]
November 2 2:30 PM Northern Iowa No. 1 North Dakota State Fargodome • Fargo, ND ESPN+  NDSU 42–19   14,528 [86]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.
Date Bye week
November 2 No. 5 South Dakota

Week 11

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
November 9 12:00 PM Youngstown State Southern Illinois Saluki Stadium • Carbondale, IL ESPN+  SIU 37–33   4,933 [87]
November 9 1:00 PM No. 3 South Dakota State No. 21 North Dakota Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND ESPN+  SDSU 38–7   9,797 [88]
November 9 1:00 PM Missouri State Murray State Roy Stewart Stadium • Murray, KY ESPN+  MOST 59–31   5,127 [89]
November 9 1:00 PM No. 18 Illinois State Northern Iowa UNI-Dome • Cedar Falls, IA ESPN+  ILST 31–9   1,880 [90]
November 9 1:00 PM Indiana State No. 5 South Dakota DakotaDome • Vermillion, SD ESPN+  USD 49–0   5,515 [91]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.
Date Bye week
November 9 No. 1 North Dakota State

Week 12

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
November 16 11:00 AM Northern Iowa Youngstown State Stambaugh Stadium • Youngstown, OH ESPN+  YSU 39–38 OT  4,933 [92]
November 16 12:00 PM No. 17 Illinois State Indiana State Memorial Stadium • Terre Haute, IN ESPN+  ILST 31–19   3,188 [93]
November 16 12:00 PM No. 5 South Dakota No. RV North Dakota Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND ESPN+  USD 42–36   8,974 [94]
November 16 12:30 PM Murray State Kentucky Kroger Field • Lexington, KY SEC Network/ESPN+ L 6–48   48,370 [95]
November 16 2:00 PM Southern Illinois No. 3 South Dakota State Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, SD ESPN+  SDSU 41–10   17,268 [96]
November 16 2:30 PM Missouri State No. 1 North Dakota State Fargodome • Fargo, ND ESPN+  NDSU 59–21   14,679 [97]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.

Week 13

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
November 23 12:00 PM North Dakota No. 14 Illinois State Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL ESPN+  ILST 35–13   5,631 [98]
November 23 12:00 PM Murray State Southern Illinois Saluki Stadium • Carbondale, IL ESPN+  SIU 62–0   5,310 [99]
November 23 1:00 PM Indiana State Northern Iowa UNI-Dome • Cedar Falls, IA ESPN+  UNI 41–34   8,398 [100]
November 23 1:00 PM No. 1 North Dakota State No. 4 South Dakota DakotaDome • Vermillion, SD ESPN+  USD 29–28   9,062 [101]
November 23 2:00 PM No. 3 South Dakota State Missouri State Robert W. Plaster Stadium • Springfield, MO ESPN+  SDSU 45–9   7,142 [102]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.
Date Bye week
November 23 Youngstown State

FCS playoffs

See also: 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season § NCAA Division I playoff bracket

In 2024, four teams made the FCS playoffs. North Dakota State (No. 2), South Dakota State (No. 3), and South Dakota (No. 4) all received byes, while Illinois State (No. 12) played in the first round. Below are the games in which they played.

All times central. Seedings in parenthesis.

First round

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
November 30 11:00 AM No. 11 (12) Illinois State No. 16 Southeast Missouri State (Big South–OVC) Houck Stadium • Cape Girardeau, MO ESPN+ W 35–27   [103]
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.

Second round

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
December 7 1:00 PM No. 13 (14) Montana (Big Sky) No. 2 (3) South Dakota State Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, SD ESPN+ W 35–18   [104]
December 7 2:00 PM No. 14 (13) Tarleton State (UAC) No. 3 (4) South Dakota DakotaDome • Vermillion, SD ESPN+    
December 7 2:00 PM No. 15 (15) Abilene Christian (UAC) No. 4 (2) North Dakota State Fargodome • Fargo, ND ESPN+     10,373
December 7 3:00 PM No. 11 (12) Illinois State No. 5 (5) UC Davis (Big Sky) UC Davis Health Stadium • Davis, CA ESPN+    
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.

Quarterfinals

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
December 13/14 TBD TBD No. 2 (3) South Dakota State Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, SD TBD    
#Rankings from Stats Perform. All times are in Central Time.

MVFC records vs other conferences

2024–25 records against non-conference foes:

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Week Offensive Defensive Special teams Freshman
Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Position Team
Week 1 (Sept. 2) [105] Cam Miller QB NDSU Todric McGee S MOST Keyondray Jones-Logan RS USD Ethan Wright RB YSU
Week 2 (Sept. 9) [106] Beau Brungard QB YSU Ben Bogle LB SIU C.J. Elrichs PK UND Elijah Owens QB INST
Week 3 (Sept. 16) [107] DJ Williams QB SIU Garret Ollendieck LB INST Hayden Futch P ILST Keontez Lewis WR SIU
Jacob Clark QB MOST
Week 4 (Sept. 23) [108] Kirby Vorhees RB SDSU Josh Navratil LB UND Jackson Williams WR/RS NDSU CharMar Brown RB NDSU
Week 5 (Sept. 30) [109] Jacob Clark QB MOST Eli Mostaert DT NDSU Tyler Erkman DB UND CharMar Brown RB NDSU
Week 6 (Oct. 7) [110] Cam Miller QB NDSU Tye Niekamp LB ILST Brendon Kilpatrick P YSU Quaron Adams WR USD
Week 7 (Oct. 14) [111] Jacob Clark QB MOST Gary Bryant III LB USD Angel Johnson RB/KR SDSU Elijah Owens QB INST
Week 8 (Oct. 21) [112] Tommy Rittenhouse QB ILST Logan Kopp LB NDSU Kaedin Steindorf P NDSU Xavier Loyd WR ILST
Week 9 (Oct. 28) [113] Beau Brungard QB YSU Geoffrey Brown LB INST Andrew Lastovka PK YSU CharMar Brown RB NDSU
Week 10 (Nov. 4) [114] Jayden Becks RB MOST Joey Shew DE INST James London PK MUR CharMar Brown RB NDSU
Week 11 (Nov. 11) [115] Jacob Clark QB MOST Mi'Quise Grace DL USD Hunter Dustman K/P SDSU Jake Curry QB SIU
Week 12 (Nov. 18) [116] Charles Pierre Jr. RB USD Matthew Durrance S SDSU Griffin Crosa K NDSU Xavier Loyd WR ILST
Beau Brungard QB YSU
Week 13 (Nov. 25) [117] Michael Lindauer QB SIU Tye Niekamp LB ILST Sergio Morancy WR/RS UNI Nate Ewell LB USD

Players of the Year

On December 2, 2024, the Missouri Valley Football Conference released their Players of the Year and All-Conference Honors.[118]

Offensive Player of the Year

Defensive Player of the Year

Newcomer and Freshman of the Year

  • CharMar Brown, RB (RS-Fr - North Dakota State)

Coach of the Year

All-Conference Teams

National Awards

On November 26, 2024, STATS Perform released their list of finalists for the Walter Payton Award, Buck Buchanan Award, Jerry Rice Award, and Eddie Robinson Award, respectively. Finalists are listed by order they appears in the STATS Perform article:

Walter Payton Award

The following MVFC players were listed as finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the best FCS offensive player:[119]

Buck Buchanan Award

The following MVFC players were listed as finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the best FCS defensive player:[120]

Jerry Rice Award

The Jerry Rice Award is given to the most outstanding FCS freshman. The MVFC's own CharMar Brown (RB - North Dakota State) won the award.[121] The other conference finalist is listed below:[122]

Eddie Robinson Award

The following MVFC coaches were listed as finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award, which is given to the best FCS head coach:[123]

Home attendance

Team Stadium Capacity Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Game 6 Game 7 Game 8 Game 9 Total Average % of capacity
Illinois State Hancock Stadium 13,391 12,440† 9,012 11,687 6,232 6,381 5,631 51,383 8,563 64.0%
Indiana State Memorial Stadium 12,764 3,614 3,466 3,056 4,266† 3,013 3,188 20,603 3,433 26.9%
Missouri State Robert W. Plaster Stadium 17,500 9,642 12,117† 11,280 8,134 7,142 48,315 9,663 55.2%
Murray State Roy Stewart Stadium 16,800 7,213 9,088 6,437 15,991† 6,133 5,127 49,989 8,331 49.6%
North Dakota Alerus Center 12,283 11,595 10,685 8,491 10,828 11,617† 9,797 8,974 71,987 10,283 83.7%
North Dakota State Fargodome 18,700 16,811 17,185 18,723 18,807† 14,528 14,679 100,463 16,743 89.5%
Northern Iowa UNI-Dome 16,324 8,458 12,611† 10,848 1,880 8,398 42,195 8,439 51.7%
South Dakota DakotaDome 9,100 7,435 6,529 6,706 8,934 5,515 9,062† 44,181 7,363 80.9%
South Dakota State Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium 19,340 19,321 19,376† 19,331 19,351 16,376 17,268 111,023 18,503 95.7%
Southern Illinois Saluki Stadium 15,000 7,879 13,421† 7,157 9,610 4,933 5,310 48,310 8,051 53.7%
Youngstown State Stambaugh Stadium 20,630 7,649 12,415† 8,560 9,979 4,933 43,536 8,707 42.2%

Bold - Exceed or met capacity
†Season High
‡FCS Playoff Game

2025 NFL draft

Main article: 2025 NFL draft

The following list includes all MVFC players who were drafted in the 2025 NFL draft.

Player Position School Draft
round 		Round
pick 		Overall
pick 		Team

Head coaches

Through November 30, 2024
All stats include 2024 season

Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school MVFC record MVFC titles FCS playoff appearances FCS playoff record National titles
Illinois State Brock Spack 16 111–73 (.603) 111–73 (.603) 71–54 (.568) 2 6 8–5 (.615) 0
Indiana State Curt Mallory 7[a] 24–55 (.304) 24–55 (.304) 16–40 (.286) 0 0 0–0 (–) 0
Missouri State Ryan Beard 2 12–11 (.522) 12–11 (.522) 9–7 (.563) 0 0 0–0 (–) 0
Murray State Jody Wright 1 1–11 (.083) 1–11 (.083) 0–8 (.000) 0 0 0–0 (–) 0
North Dakota Bubba Schweigert[b] 11 88–78 (.530) 66–57 (.537) 19–18 (.514) 0 5 1–5 (.167) 0
North Dakota State Tim Polasek 1 10–2 (.833) 10–2 (.833) 7–1 (.875) 1 1 0–0 (–) 0
Northern Iowa Mark Farley 24 183–112 (.620) 183–112 (.620) 117–66 (.639) 7 13 16–13 (.552) 0
South Dakota Bob Nielson[c] 9 237–127–1 (.651) 51–47 (.520) 36–32 (.529) 1 3 2–3 (.400) 2
South Dakota State Jimmy Rogers 2 25–2 (.926) 25–2 (.926) 15–1 (.938) 2 2 4–0 (1.000) 1
Southern Illinois Nick Hill 9 48–56 (.462) 48–56 (.462) 28–42 (.400) 0 3 3–3 (.500) 0
Youngstown State Doug Phillips 5 21–31 (.404) 21–31 (.404) 15–23 (.395) 0 1 1–1 (.500) 0
  1. ^ Indiana State did not play football in the 2020-21 academic year
  2. ^ Bubba Schweigert coached Minnesota Duluth of NCAA Division II from 2004-07. He also coached North Dakota while they were a part of the Big Sky Conference from 2014-17 and were independents in 2018 and 2019.
  3. ^ Bob Nielson coached Western Illinois from 2013-15, which included a run in the playoffs that ended in the second round. Nielson also coached Minnesota-Duluth from 1999-2003 and 2008-12, that second stint included five consecutive NCAA Division II playoff appearances highlighted by 2 National Titles. In the first stint at MN-Duluth included his first Division II playoff appearance. Nielson also coached Wisconsin-Eau Claire from 1996-98 that included one NCAA Division III playoff run that ended in the semifinals. Before that, he coached Wartburg from 1991-95, which included two Division III playoff runs as well. His first head coaching job was at Ripon from 1989-90.

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